Methods And Systems For A Blockchain Transfer Agent Protocol

Abstract

Methodical innovations to the ordinary and proper bookkeeping practices of a registered transfer agent characterized by blockchain technologies. Designed to create equitable access to financial instruments to investors across the globe traditionally disenfranchised from book-entry security ownership. Novelistically enables compliant attestations of registered transfer agent guarantees comprising cryptographic proof

1 . A method for maintaining master securityholder files as a transfer agent including computing devices, the method comprising:
 a computerized record of securityholder registration information characterized by SEC Rule 17Ad-9 including any other identifying information about securities and securityholders the transfer agent reasonably deems essential to its recordkeeping system for the efficient and effective research of record differences per (a)(8);   wherein some or all securityholder balances are not directly derived from the master securityholder file, but rather characterized by balances of digital assets represented on a blockchain network;   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein registered securityholder identities are mapped to their stated or otherwise attested blockchain address. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein securityholders can transfer their assets directly on the blockchain including systems only enabling the transfer of fungible unrestricted securities. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein some or all outstanding security balances for transfer agent reports or standard verifications of securityholder balances including such balances claimed on the blockchain are derived or otherwise proven by querying the balance of a blockchain address. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein blockchain addresses are listed on the master securityholder file or other registrar records maintained by the transfer agent as permittable by applicable law. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein securityholders can only transfer securities to other market participants registered or otherwise verified with the transfer agent. 
     
     
         7 . A system for securities transfer signature guarantees imposed by a transfer agent characterized by cryptographic proofs created by computing devices or used to validate securities transfers, the system comprising:
 equitable access to computing processes including asymmetric cryptoeraphy systems or otherwise general public-key cryptographic systems for signing and verifying, proofs including such computer data encryptions pursuant to SEC Rule 17Ad-15;   wherein such proofs, characterized by cryptographic signatures, commitments, or otherwise encrypted messages including plaintext instructions processed through a cryptographic generation function can provably be assigned with negligible faults including collisions or non-deterministic behavior to a public-address signee, are respected as material truth by the transfer agent.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein such proofs execute on or otherwise propagate through a blockchain network including such a blockchain with historic digital storage of cryptographic transfer proofs characterized by directed acyclic graphs, Merkle Patricia tries, hashed Merkle roots, or other proofs including those based on asymmetric cryptography or one-way hashes. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein account ownership records on a blockchain including a distributed ledger can be independently verified with direct representation via such proofs. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transfers are enforced through the system of  claim 7 . 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein securityholders have complete access to their own account keypair and can independently sign transfers via the system of  claim 7  which may be broadcast to a blockchain network to transfer securities in a way recognized by the transfer agent despite such transfer agent having no active role in the generation or signing of such transaction. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein any new market participant can create a keypair through a standard mathematical application of cryptographic randomness seeding which may then be represented as a mnemonic phrase including wallet import phrases maintained only by such peer, including the generation and encryption of such proofs completely offline prior any broadcasts. 
     
     
         14 . A process for transfer-agent shareholder voting including representative participation in corporate governance, the process characterized by:
 distribution of proxy materials or Notices of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials as required by applicable law including SEC Regulation 14A, SEC Regulation 14C, SEC Schedule 14A, and a plurality of SEC Rules defined thereof related to issuer disclosures and proper transfer-agent materials distributions and access-request requirements; and   publishing of such disclosed materials including proxy statements, information statements, or annual reports to securityholders at an accessible online public whereabouts which is in any other way compliant with SEC Rule 14a-16;   wherein the improvement comprises a digital voting process, the process comprising:
 determining a shareholder's voting intention via observing a proxy card characterized in  FIG. 185W  and related proxy materials previously detailed; 
 encoding a shareholder's voting intention in a standardized format deemed by the transfer agent and further characterized  FIG. 173T ; and 
 generating a cryptographic commitment to a vote through a process characterized by  FIG. 178H . 
   
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein such transactions containing memos or cryptographically-authenticated messages are broadcast over a blockchain network. 
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein such transaction messages containing memos or cryptographically-authenticated messages are sent directly to the transfer agent or reasonably related party including computing devices decreed as recipient addresses for sending such votes. 
     
     
         17 . Systems of vote processing detailed in  claim 14  which leverage the cryptographic transfer message guarantees detailed in  claim 7 . 
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein shareholders sign a transaction including the transfer of nominal value with additional information including transaction memo text or other encoded information communicating their voting intent characterized by the underlying blockchain. 
     
     
         19 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein shareholders sign or encrypting a message containing the shareholder's voting intent using their secret information from their asymmetric keypair to be further processed by the transfer agent for proxy count collections. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the record of securityholder information is not directly held by the transfer agent but rather stored or otherwise disclosed on the blockchain in an encrypted form with personal or otherwise regulatory information decodable on through a means accessible by said transfer agent leveraging their own cryptographic secrets to reveal such information.